A car manufacturer has obviously teamed up with Nintendo of America to create 7 fully-functioning automotive race karts to be awarded to the 7 best MK7 racers (by Christmas Day) among an official NoA MK7 Online Community.

I don't have any problem with the two newly revealed characters. Would they be my first choices? No. But I don't think they are awful.

What does confuse me is that so many people got hyped over Metal Mario, who is literally just a reskin of Mario, (not even a new character in any sense), and yet so many are upset about these two actual brand new characters.

Different strokes I guess, and if you like Metal Mario, more power to you, but it is perplexing to me. :/

I don't have any problem with the two newly revealed characters. Would they be my first choices? No. But I don't think they are awful.

What does confuse me is that so many people got hyped over Metal Mario, who is literally just a reskin of Mario, (not even a new character in any sense), and yet so many are upset about these two actual brand new characters.

Different strokes I guess, and if you like Metal Mario, more power to you, but it is perplexing to me. :/

I agree. I'd rather original characters, no matter how obscure, over palette swaps or babies.

Sounding not unlike Double Dash. You have the one lap Wuhu Island (analogous to the 7 lap free for all Baby Park in DD) and water and air borne gimmicks as compared to the dual drivers in DD.

That's a bad thing where I'm concerned. Minus the blue shell, really enjoyed the no-nonsense design that was Mario Kart DS. That's going to be a hard game to top I think.

It's not as bad, given that the Water and Air gimmicks are really just extra paths through a course. Assuming they use the same idea for every course, water is something of a detriment as it replaces Lakitu's fishing from older games and punishes you for falling, and the air segments reward you for skillful flying and your kart build. It'll be interesting to see how it turns out, but I do doubt we'll be seeing anything as tight as MKDS again.

Guys, that list up above is only 16 of the 32 tracks. And yes, Maple Treeway is in the game. It's been featured extensively in every trailer since E3. The latest builds of the game even have the giant Wigglers running around. I guess it will be Wiggler's course, if you would. Kind of fitting for Honey Queen, too.

I'm thrilled to see Koopa Beach (N64) and Coconut Mall (Wii) return. The latter will have great gliding opportunities. And Koopa Beach, in particular, was unique for how you'd sink if you drove too far ashore. Now I bet you'll dive into underwater trenches and continue along a separate route.

In fact, on Luigi Speedway (N64), I notice they've added a second tier to the track along the banked curve, with a glider jump to other side that leads above the brick tunnel. I love all the crisscrossing paths afforded by land, sea and air routes. This is not a gimmick like Double Dash's two-seat karts; these are branching paths like Yoshi Valley but with verticality (water below and skies above). No two races will be the same!

I love the Arabian style of Shy Shy Bazaar, from the onion domes and curved gateways to the music. I love the rams crossing the road in Daisy Hills, as well as how once you glide past the hot air balloons, you can choose to land on the road or on the rooftops. So much awesome going on in the first cup alone.

Somewhere (the Japanese site, irrc?), there were short videos of each character, and one of them clearly shows the characters racing through Koopa Cape from Mario Kart Wii, complete with the river rapids and giant koopa shells. I wonder if they'll turn the ramps on the mountain into glider pads, and if they'll fill the tunnels with water for an underwater portion?

Note that, beyond the courses listed earlier, we also know of the following: